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| Tuesday 1 July, 2008 |
| Blog: Team stars |
| How many of the pre-tournament stars actually performed at Euro 2008? Steve Wilson thinks that the team was more important than the individual |
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For the first time in a while it was hard to actually pick a star player from the major summer tournament. UEFA officially plumped for Spain's Xavi, but any number of contenders could have made a viable bid for the crown. Interestingly, few were the big names most people predicted ahead of the football festival.
Back in May, most of the previews for the European Championship highlighted the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Thierry Henry, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Luca Toni as the men to watch - how wrong they were. Of the expected superstar heroes, perhaps only Fernando Torres and Michael Ballack lived up to their reputations.
Instead, the theme of the team rather than the individual was carried over from Euro 2004. While new masters emerged for several nations, such as Russia's Andrei Arshavin, their unsung teammates played just as big a role. How much impact would Arshavin have made without the work of men like Yuri Zhirkov, Alexander Anyukov and Konstantin Zyrianov behind him?
The stars of the future that many predicted would light up the event also failed to shine. France's Karim Benzema and Holland's Klaas Jan-Huntelaar were given only the briefest chance to make their name, while Italy's own young gun - Alberto Aquilani - was restricted to a cameo. Instead, Giorgio Chiellini surprisingly emerged as one of the best new Azzurri prospects.
Look at any pundit's Team of the Tournament and you will see the names of several veterans as well. Spain's Marcos Senna and Carlos Marchena, along with Turkey's Nihat Kahveci and Croatia's Josip Simunic are all close to, or over, 30-years-old and were not on many lists of potential stars. Yet they, among others, came away from Austria-Switzerland with their status vastly improved.
Even in the winning squad you would be hard pushed to find one man who outplayed all others. Iker Casillas was a commanding presence at the back, while Sergio Ramos grew in stature with each passing game. Senna held the midfield together, while Cesc Fabregas and Andres Iniesta showed moments of class - and don't forget David Villa's four goals.
In an age where club football is dominated by superstar players with inflated egos, and bank balances, it is somewhat refreshing to see international football displaying such a team ethic. Every player worked for each other and very few tried to run the show by themselves. How many dazzling solo goals can you remember? Not many compared to the plethora of passing goals.
We all love to see the larger than life characters in the game, but Euro 2008 reminds us of something that can be so easily forgotten - it is a team sport. Whoever you think was your Player of the Tournament I'll bet it was not the chap you thought it would be a month ago. That is something we should celebrate just as much as we would have praised a superb individual display.
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I am sure that no one would have expected Xavi to be named MVP of the tournament. If it was up to me I'd pick four or five Spanish players for the award.
Mohammed Nuaimi
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